Georges Duby's in-depth study of Bovines and the surrounding period has been rendered into American English by Katherine Tihanyi. Duby uses Bouvines as a peg on which to hang an examination of war, religion, politics and the interaction of all three. Because Bouvines was fought a a Sunday we can discuss the Peace of God movement (even if it started a century before) and the way such a blasphemous act would be regarded by the contemporary monastic chronicler. Because Bouvines was that rare thing a battle we can examine what war meant and how it was usually conducted.

Duby sets out the various characters as players in a morality play and we are introduced to all of then in turn. As over the complexity of the political situation comes through with relatives fighting on different sides; ex-vassals fighting for other lords; and some characters seen only from a distance (King John). The central description of the battle is from William the Breton but many other sources are printed. Duby analyses the differing views of the various chroniclers the slant they put on the "facts". There is an examination of the subsequent legend of Bouvines and its troubled history from a victory of Right over Evil to crushing of the working-man by aristocracy and their lackeys.

The description of the battle, as in Commines description of Montl'hery, Joineville's descriptions of Mansourah, etc., remind one of how unlike the carefully delineated battle maps is the real thing. For the exposure of so such original material, Duby is to be thanked. I also enjoyed his summary of the status and history of the routiers. THE LEGEND OF BOUVINES is readable scholarly history in a way the French seem to have perfected (although John Gillingham can do it too), but at £ 30, most Society members will use their libraries.